


Silhouettes

by SaltyMenma



Series: Winter Wonderland [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AU, Family Feels, First Meetings, Homelessness, How Do I Tag, M/M, Misunderstandings, Sickening amounts of fluff to ensue, Sickfic, awesomebrother!Hinata, happy endings, this is a trainwreck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 18:12:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7372303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltyMenma/pseuds/SaltyMenma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Hinata is both a street rat and desperate, and tries to rob Tsukishima. And fails. Miserably. </p><p>Filled with self-indulging fluff and family feels and maybe just a little bit of plot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silhouettes

 The faint glow of streetlight backlights two figures, one much smaller and shorter than the other. The pair walks hand in hand, and to a passerby, perhaps nothing would look amiss. Hurrying by, a stranger would observe two ordinary looking children—maybe the only remarkable detail their copper toned hair—both wrapped up in a standard ensemble of winter layers. They would brush past and vaguely register thick jackets, pilling mittens, well-used backpacks, a faded red scarf pulled over a mouth. For a brief instant, they might imagine the life they had at home, think about the dinner they would arrive to and the school day they had just finished. They might conjure the image of a warm family, a quaint and cozy residence, attentive parents and a loving pair of siblings, before continuing on.

 And like a blip on a map, like whirling past thousands of faceless strangers on a crowded street, they would never think of the pair again.

 But perhaps if they knew that the children had no warm home to return to, no attentive parents, they would pause and look again. Reassess their image. Perhaps if they knew that neither of them had eaten for days, they would stop. Maybe offer to buy something, if they were particularly kind-hearted. 

 Perhaps, if they knew that one was burning with fever and the other mad with worry, they would hesitate. Feel a burst of pity. Then they would keep walking. Think,  _I can't throw my small paycheck on medical bills for a stranger._

 Perhaps, if those children came begging for money, they would cast their eyes down and walk faster. Push away the small pang in their conscience.

 And even if hot coals of guilt would lodge in their breasts on the walk home, they would harbor just a small moment of shameful relief that it wasn't them in that situation—it wasn't them living sick on the streets. And eventually, even those embers of guilt would cool after a good night’s sleep. Disappear and be forgotten within a week.

 And the two of them would walk on hand in hand, head down, cheeks stinging with cold, shadows stretching long behind them. 

 They were all each other had, and they had learned the hard way: a stranger’s kindness never extends very far.

 

*********************

 “Nii-chan, I’m hungry,” Natsu whispers.

 “Hush. I’ll get you something, so don’t worry.” Hinata squeezes the tiny hand in his, and even enveloped in the warmth of his palm, the smaller hand radiates with unnatural iciness. A twinge of anxiety shoots through him. _Natsu’s getting worse._

 They had been out scavenging for food, but pickings were slim tonight, and even the usual locations that could spare a day-old loaf of bread or two had turned them away. For the third night in a row.

 Hinata sighs mournfully. His stomach is trying to eat him. _Pork buns pork buns...Ack, I wish I had pork buns._ He sighs again and tries hard to tamp down the bubbling frustration. How hard can it be to get just a little bit of food? And now on top of it all, temperatures are dropping lower every night and Natsu is sick. So, so sick—

 A hard tug on Hinata’s hand pulls him out of his thoughts. He looks down at the little copper head that is now behind him and realizes that Natsu has stopped walking.

 “Hey, what’s going—"

 Natsu drops like a sack of potatoes.

 “Natsu!” Hinata lunges to catch her. A burst of panic tears through him, and it takes everything he has to not frantically shake his little sister. He peers down into her face, and she stares blearily back at him. Hinata breathes a sigh of relief, but the taste of fear remains acrid on Hinata's tongue, reminding him of just how fragile their situation is. Here one moment, gone the next. Natsu means the world and a half to him, and losing her...Hinata shudders and pushes the thought away quickly. He won't lose her. He can't. 

 A mitten wrapped hand pokes him in the cheek, and Hinata startles, breaking out of his thoughts to regard the offending appendage. 

 Natsu pats at his face. “Nii-chan, m’ head hurts. Ev’thing hurts," she mumbles, sounding plaintive and worn. "Really cold too.” Hinata resists the urge to sigh again. That, and lie prostrate on the ground alongside his sister. The cold of the night is beginning to seep under his jacket, and Hinata can see a curious passerby approaching. Under the harsh light of the street lamp, the thin sheen of sweat and the pallor on her face stand out starkly. They have to get up and out of here. Quick. Hinata hefts the small girl up, ignoring her sluggish complaints. And as it is, it's more endearing than anything else, honestly. 

 Hinata summons a weak smile as the two of them pass an inquisitive looking man on the street. He steadfastly avoids eye contact, despairing. How the hell is he supposed to get medicine? They pass a trash can, and the desire to bang his head on it is overwhelming. 

 The bundle in his arms shivers again, and Hinata tries hard to quell his anxiety. “Come on, Natsu, no sitting on the ground. Let’s get to the park, and you can sleep there.” His words come out in a puff of white. _I guess I have no choice._ He says a solemn farewell to warmth and unzips his jacket, wrapping it around Natsu. Hinata spares a moment to chuckle at the girl’s resemblance to a marshmallow before scooping her up. He tweaks her nose affectionately, and she protests mulishly, smacking him in the nose. Hinata flinches and laughs again, hugging his sister close. A fierce protectiveness bolsters his resolve.

 He’s going to find that medicine, no matter what it takes.

 

********************************

 “Time to get down, you little poop,” Hinata says gently, flicking at the tuft of hair that pokes out from Natsu’s hood.

 A soft grumble comes from somewhere within the bundle of fluff. It takes a couple minutes of cajoling, but Natsu eventually slides down from her Hinata’s embrace and flops onto the grass, where Hinata has already laid out their tattered sleeping bags.

 Around them, a curving shelter of trees and shrubs shield them from prying eyes. Hinata had stumbled upon the shielded alcove a couple years back while wandering in the park, and they had slept there ever since. No one ever bothered them here, and police had no reason to venture into the woodsy area of a public park.

 _Home,_ thinks Hinata, and the thought is faintly bittersweet.

 “I’ll be back soon, okay?” Hinata shakes Natsu. “Hey, listen close, okay?” Natsu’s eyes flicker open in forced alertness at the urgency in her brother’s tone. “I’m leaving for a little bit. I wrapped you in both sleeping bags, and you’ll be protected under the big bush. No one can see you, especially in the dark, so don’t be scared. I’ll be back soon.”

 Hinata rocks forward on his haunches, pressing a quick kiss to Natsu’s hot brow. He rises to leave, but as he turns, Natsu’s rasping voice stops him.

 “Shouyou," she calls, and Hinata frowns. Natsu never calls him that. "Promise me you’ll come back?” Hinata twists around and freezes. Within the darkness of the shrubbery, he finds bright amber eyes fixed on his, eerily glowing and entirely too aware for Natsu’s fever addled state. The gaze cuts straight through him, and Hinata feels transparent under the probing look. Then she blinks, and the uncanny, piercing shade fades. Now, her eyes just look tired and pleading.

 Hinata shivers uneasily, a fleeting foreboding closing around him. And even though Natsu surely won't be able to see it, he fixes on what he hopes is a reassuring smile, shakes off the feeling, and promises. 

 “I’ll be back in no time.”

**Author's Note:**

> TsukiHina will be coming soon! Maybe even next chapter :3 Thanks for reading & hope you enjoyed! -u-


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